Bottom cap



BOTTOM CAP Original Filed May 29, 1928 FIGJ.

IN V E N TO RS AUGUST SCHUCH GEORGE H. BARBE/i BY THEIR ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE BOTTOM CAP Original application May 29, 1928, Serial No.

281,570. Divided and this application February 18, 1931, Serial No. 516,663

2 Claims.

This invention relates to flashlights and more particularly to means whereby flashlights may be suspended, in a convenient fashion, from a hook on the wall or from a belt worn on the person or otherwise.

One object of the invention is the provision of a suspension element, say a ring, preferably on the bottom cap of a flashlight, by which the flashlight may be suspended as desired, but whichwill not prevent the flashlight from being stood on its end.

The invention also relates to the disposition of fastening means for the ring in its folded or inoperative position on the cap.

The invention also has for its object a hinge connection for the suspension ring which shall be practical from the standpoint of ease and cheapness of manufacture. Accordingly the bottom cap or other flashlight part is slotted to receive the proximate edge portions or" a sheet of metal, bent to cylindrical or sleeve-like form to receive the ends of the suspension ring, the edges of the sleeve being deflected within the bottom cap to securely hold the hinge member in place.

The invention also seeks a suspension ring for a flashlight whereof coacting surfaces on the flashlight and ring shall retain the suspension ring in folded position when not in use. To this end the suspension ring may be formed at one or more points on its circumference with one or more tongues or fingers adapted to be snapped over an outwardly disposed part, such as an edge or lip, on the flashlight. If desired, the suspension ring may be a flat annulus, stamped or otherwise formed, say, out of sheet metal, to have a projecting portion bent in the form of an eye to receive a hinge pin, preferably carried inwardly of the bottom surface of the cap, and also formed with a substantially normally disposed lip conveniently diametrically disposed with respect thereto, adapted to coact with an outwardly pressed lug or bead on the periphery of the bottom cap. Being flat, the

' ring ideally serves as a base or bottom surface upon which the flashlight may stand. If the ring is of circular cross section, the ends of the wire from which it is bent may be disposed in a substantially cylindrical hinge member and preferably diametrically opposite thereto the ring may be deflected outwardly and at an angle so as to engage a portion of the flashlight formed to coact therewith. When in folded position, the flashlight when stood on end rests on the ring.

These and other objects of the invention and the means for their attainment will be more apparent from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating various embodiments by which the invention may be realized, and in which:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a bottom cap for flashlights whereof the suspension element takes the form of a flat annulus upon which the flashlight may stand on end and whereof coacting portions of the ring and cap removably secure the ring in folded position.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation, partly in section on the line 22 of Figure 1, showing m particularly the respective coacting securing elements of the ring and cap and the pivotal connection of the ring with the cap.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of a cap having a modified suspension ring upon which the flashlight may also stand.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view, partly in section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

This application is a division of United States application Serial No. 281,570. 86

While the invention is illustrated as providing a suspension ring and bottom cap assembly which shall permit of the flashlight being stood up on its end when the suspension ring is folded into inoperative position, and will be so described for the sake of clearness, it is to be understood that in its broadest aspects the securing devices are applicable to suspension members broadly in combination with any part of a flashlight. 90

Bottom caps are generally pressed out of sheet metal to a substantially cup shape and may comprise a cylindrical wall section 20 formed with the threads 21 whereby the cap may be removably secured to the end of the flashlight casing (not shown) and a bottom or end surface 22 which is sometimes a plane surface upon which the flashlight may be stood on end.

In Figures 1 and 2 the suspension element takes the form of a flat annulus 230 adapted, when in folded position, to lie parallel with the bottom 22 of the bottom cap and closely adjacent thereto. This suspension element may be stamped out of sheet material. As illustrated, the outer diameter of the ring 238 is somewhat less than the extreme outer diameter of the cap 20. At one point on its periphery the ring is provided with a tongue 234 formed at its extremity into an eye 235, the inner portion of the tongue, as at 236 being curved downwardly to conform to a curvilinear bead 60 pressed outwardly from the side 20 of the cap at its juncture with the bottom 22. Carried with the cap are spaced eye portions 61 between which the eye on the ring 230 is adapted to be disposed. The eyes 61 are formed up into cylindrical form from strips of metal to have, respectively, at least one free end 64 and are disposed'within apertures 63 cut out of the bead 60. The free ends 64 of the eyes enter the apertures 63 and are secured in any convenient fashion to the inside surface of the bottom 22 as by eyelets or solder or both. A hinge pin 62 within the eyes serves as a pivot for the eye on the cover.

In spaced relation and preferably diametrically opposite the hinge tongue 234, the ring 230 is made with a lip 237 curved downwardly and convexedly, as at 238, to conform substantially to the curvature of the bead 60 and thereby retain the ring in folded position when the lip is snapped over the bead. The lip is turned outwardly at its end, as at 239, to allow engage ment by the finger to release the lip from the bead and throw the ring outwardly for use.

It is to be noted that the axis. of the hinge pin 62 lies substantially tangent to the circumference of the bottom cap 20 and because of the offset relation of the ring 230 with respect thereto due to the deflected portion 236 the ring may extend, when released for support by a nail or the belt, as shown in dotted lines, normal to the plane of the surface 22 while wholly without the cylindrical plane including the wall of the bottom cap 20. Thus the ring, although held in a belt, permits the bottom cap to hang freely. In closed or inoperative position it affords a broad flat supporting surface for the flashlight.

A somewhat similar modification is shown in Figures 3 and 4. In this instance, a suspension ring 330 of a rod or wire is availed of which is split to afford resiliency sufiicient to permit the lip 333 to yieldingly engage the bead 60 on the cap 20-22 and be released therefrom. The ring 330 is of an exterior diameter less than the outside diameter of the bead 60 and its ends 331 are bent inwardly to enter the ends of a sleevelike hinge member 70 lying in a chord of the circumference of the cap. Opposite the split or ends 331 the ring 330 is bent outwardly in substantially parallel portions 332, then curved downwardly convexedly, at an angle to the plane of the ring as at 333, to conform substantially to the bead 60 and then curved outwardly as at 334 to enable the thumb, for instance, to engage therewith as in the previously described modification to cause the release of the ring.

The hinge member is formed from a strip or sheet of metal formed up to a sleeve of cylindrical shape, as at '70, to receive the ends 331 of the ring. The free longitudinal edges 71 of the hinge member are passed through a slot 29 made in the surface, say, of the bottom cap and bent over as at 73 in opposite directions to securely fasten the hinge member in place. Preferably the cylindrical portion 40 is deflected inwardly midway between its ends, at at '72, to serve as a stop for the ends 331 of the ring and to prevent the ring slipping around in the hinge member so that one of its ends emerges therefrom. Of course, the hinge member '70 may be soldered in place instead, if desired.

With the construction just described the ring 330 is capable of a movement about its hinge of approximately 180 degrees to afford the maximum of freedom in use, it being observed that by the use of the hinge member as described the bottom cap may be of the usual form requiring no additional operations in its manufacture other than the formation of the slot.

It will thus be seen that a bottom cap for flashlights has been provided in which a suspension ring carried thereby can be freely used but which does not affect the stability of the flashlight when stood on end.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art in the composition and config uration of the component elements going to make up the invention as a whole, as well as an interchange of such elements in the several embodiments or a substitution thereof, and no limitation is intended by the phraseology of the foregoing description or illustrations in the annexed drawing, except as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A suspension and carrying device for flashli hts, comprising, in combination, a bottom cap for flashlights formed with a peripheral bead proximate its end, a suspension ring of substantially the shape of the bottom surface of the bottom cap disposed in a plane parallel to but outwardly of the bottom surface of the bottom cap but substantially in contact therewith and upon which the flashlight may stand in an upright position, means to pivotally connect the suspension ring with the bottom cap, said ring being formed with a lip deflected away from the plane of the ring and adapted to snap over the bead on the bottom cap.

2. A suspension and carrying device for -flash-.

lights, comprising, in combination, a bottom cap for flashlights formed with a peripheral bead proximate its end, a suspension ring of wire bent substantially into a ring the shape of the bottom surface of the bottom cap disposed in a plane parallel to but outwardly of the bottom surface of the bottom cap but substantially in contact therewith and upon which the flashlight may stand in an upright position, a tubular hinge member secured to the bottom surface of the bottom cap, a portion of said ring being bent outwardly in substantial U-shape to form a lip deflected away from the plane of the ring and toward the bottom cap and adapted the bead on the bottom cap.

GEORGE H. BARBER. AUGUST SCHUCH..

to snap over 

